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(2) Water Conflicts
Water, like energy and food, is a fundamental resource for all living organisms. A major problem now facing water is the
predictions of a major world water gap between growing demands and diminishing supplies. The exponential
population boom and growth (possibilities of an additional 3 billion people…

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2.1.1 Water stress, scarcity and vulnerability
Globally, more and more people are coming into an increasing risk of having too little water for their survival as the uses
of water have become more unsustainable in more recent times.
By 2025 it is estimated that nearly 50% of the world's population…

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Water abstraction, water extraction, or groundwater abstraction is the process of taking water from any source,
either temporarily or permanently. Most water is used for irrigation or treatment to produce drinking water.
Quality
The actions of humans have the potential to pollute both surface water and the groundwater supplies because…

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"The lubricant to development" is often a term used to describe water's role. Secure water supplies are indefinitely an
essential, and arguably fundamentally essential to economic development.
Water supplies are essential to support irrigation, often 70% of total use in many regions, so that food
production can be increased with…

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range of issues. E.g. Mekong River Committee, established between Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam dealt
with HEP, flood control, infrastructure, technical cooperation, etc.
Will conflicts become more dominant in the twenty-first century as water insecurity increases? This is a widely debatable
question. The likely sites of conflict are where countries…

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Supplies are underground so it is difficult to understand the problem as it takes years for an effect to show ­ no
actual understanding of the actual amount or level available to the countries: is it being replenished,
contamination?
It is difficult to negotiate an equitable and reasonable share for…

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Existing Schemes Details
Tagus-Murcia Takes water from the Tagus River by canal to the drought stricken area of
transfer in Spain Almeria-Murcia-Alicante to provide water for 700,000 new villas and the tourist industry and
irrigating the cash cropping areas
Snowy Mountains Water is transferred from the storage lake of Eucumbene…

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Business as Water scarcity will reduce food production Developing countries will become
usual Consumption of water will rise by over 50% reliant on food imports and
Household water use will increase by 70% experience increasing hunger and
(mostly in developing countries) malnutrition
Industrial water demand will increase in Sub-Saharan Africa…

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Political International Organisations (e.g. UN) responsible for Millennium Development Goals; government
departments (e.g. DEFRA); regional and local councils, lobbyists and pressure groups who form to
fight particular issues such as the building of mega dams
Economic World Bank and IMF fund mega-projects and ensure legislation is in place for transboundary…

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technology (osmosis membrane) filters salt from brackish water, which leads to lower costs, but filtering sea
water is very costly.
2.3.2.2 Water Conservation
Developing sustainable strategies to conserve water supplies is vital in the attempt to combat climate change.
In agriculture the maxim is "more crop per drop". Sprinkler and…